PISCES: Your intuition is on the mark and your reactions fit in with all around you. It’s easy to agree with any plans or goals in your relationships, and most people will if you let them, so spread as much good energy as possible. Any agreements now will be a benchmark for cooperation in the future.

I’m taking a cue from the “spread as much good energy as possible” tip and doing just that. spreading wonderful energy that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of these last few weeks. much love to you on this bright Tuesday afternoon. xo

my apologies for being MIA the last few days. i’ve missed this place very much. i will be honest and tell you that i thoroughly enjoyed the holiday weekend. more so than any Fourth of July in recent memory. watching the light show from a rooftop armed with ice cream sandwiches, fresh strawberries, and your best friend was spectacular. oh yeah – and people who looked as if they were in a bath tub but were really just chillin’ on their sofa (our bad!) was pretty entertaining, too.

Photos thanks to popcorn plays

now that the warm weather is finally here I’ve been enjoying those lazy summer mornings where the wind is as warm as you are. slipping into your suit and packing fresh sandwiches coupled with cold beers is the ultimate in the art of relaxation. then cooling off in a secluded pond as our legs dangle lifelessly in the pool creates a chorus of content sighs. snapping grills full of steaks and burgers surrounded by good friends and the gleaming sun started our Saturday night. tan arms and rusty old bikes rolling along the lakeside. bonfires licking the damp night air. and the sun slowly sliding down the side of the sky as you watch it disappear from the dock with your friends. yes, a very enjoyable weekend indeed. xo

my gorgeous best friend is hosting her last show at Lost Dog tonight in Ithaca. go out and support lil’ popcorn and the dog before the restaurant’s close at the end of the month. i know there’s a lot going on tonight in this charming lil’ city what with Ithaca’s obsession, the Horse Flies, playing at Castaways. but you can catch their FREE show tomorrow at the Ellis Hollow Community Center. so i say go out and support the end of the popcorn youth and Lost Dog collaboration. do it!!

I am thrilled to announce that this Friday, June 19 at the Lost Dog Lounge in downtown Ithaca, guitar iconoclasts Tom Carter, Shawn David McMillen, and Steve Gunn will present a night of rare solo sets.

Best known for his work with acclaimed psych-drone iconoclasts Charalambides, which he co-founded with Christina Carter in 1991, Tom Carter has branched out into other collaborations since 2001, playing and recording with long-term projects Zaika (with Marcia Bassett) and Badgerlore (with Rob Fisk, Ben Chasny, Liz Harris, and Peter Swanson), as well as in frequent collaborations with Bay Area sound artist Robert Horton. Other fellow travelers have included Christian Kiefer, Tetuzi Akiyama, Shawn David McMillen, Thurston Moore, Dredd Foole, Loren Connors, Pip Proud, Inca Ore, Jandek, Bardo Pond, and Matt Valentine, among many others.

Most recently, Carter has focused on his solo performances and recordings, touring constantly from 2007-2008, and finally settling in New York City in early 2009. His solo work covers a vast territory, but latter-day sightings show him to be concentrating on looped guitar drones of immensely-stacked grit and beauty, with heaps of psychedelic melodic content missing from the repertoires of many noise and drone bands. Carter has released dozens of recordings in every available format for many different labels, including kranky, Eclipse, and 3-Lobed. His most recent solo releases are available on Important, Blackest Rainbow, and his own Wholly Other imprint, which he has operated since 1995.

Guitarist and composer Shawn David McMillen is a native of the East Texas town of Lake Jackson, known as “The Cancer Capitol of America” due to its large concentration of chemical plants. In the early Nineties, Shawn met Tom and Christina Carter of Charalambides, as well as Heather Leigh Murray. Shawn and Heather recorded together as Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast, releasing one CD on Charalambides’ Wholly Other imprint and playing one show with Palace Brothers. Besides the acoustic guitar, Shawn also employs the use of autoharp, Roland keyboard, Indian goat bell, Indonesian gongs, bowed electric bass, African kalimba (thumb piano), and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). Cited influences at the time include American Indian lore, music from the Middle East and India, Phil Yost, Robbie Basho, and Malachi.

Steve Gunn perhaps best known for the major role he plays in the group GHQ, and for his brief stint as a pickup bass-slinger for the Magik Markers. His recent solo work is a mix of improvisational and blues-based acoustics. He is also working with an electric rock band that is trying to sound like a cross between Void and Quickilver Messenger Service. Steve’s most recent releases are Sundowner, a CD on Digitalis; a split LP with Shawn David McMillen, and a forthcoming solo LP on 3 Lobed Recordings.

Photo thanks to popcorn youth

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